MANNING IN DEMAND: Former QB superstar would be a great fit in MNF booth

Yes, the entertainment world needs as much Peyton Manning as it can get.

One of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time was quick-witted on a Super Bowl podium, hilarious on a Saturday Night Live skit, and quite funny in TV commercials with brother Eli.

Most recently, Manning fired off some zingers at Tom Brady while promoting a mega-marquee golf game to raise money for coronavirus relief efforts on May 24 in Hobe Sound, Fla.

On Monday, Caesars Sportsbook opened with Manning and Tiger Woods as (-175) favourites to beat Brady and Phil Mickelson (+150) in “The Match: Champions for Charity” at the Medalist Golf Club. The televised event, for which the four participants are throwing in a combined $10 million toward the cause, will consist of nine holes of best ball and nine holes of modified alternate shot.

Brady is said to be a 8-handicap while Manning is a six.

“The tournament had to be in Florida, after Tom’s ‘B & E’ arrest. He couldn’t leave the state,” Manning joked in a Zoom call featuring the four superstars last week. “Tiger and I talked to the sheriff in Tampa, he’s going to be allowed to go to Palm Beach.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve never played Tom very well on his home turf,” Manning continued. “Maybe this is considered a neutral site. I would have loved to have this tournament in a place they don’t like Tom very much: Indianapolis, Denver, Boston, after he just betrayed them and broke their hearts.

“Look, I think the teams are fair. I think Phil chose the right partner in Tom. Together they have 11 championships, Tiger and I have 17, the way I count it, right Tiger?”

His math is right. Michelson has won five majors (three Masters, the PGA Championship and the Open) while Brady has six Super Bowls. Manning has two Super Bowls and Tiger has 15 majors.

All-in-all, it should be fun to watch, especially with Manning expected to provide some comic relief to what should turn into a competitive showdown.

Meanwhile, you have to wonder what the future holds for the former Colts and Broncos QB, who has reportedly turned down a number of offers to work as an analyst since he retired in 2016. The latest was an analyst job with ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast that could have been in the same, $18 million per year neighbourhood Tony Romo is said to be getting from CBS for the next decade.

The ESPN booth is now completely empty, as The Athletic reported Monday that neither Booger McFarland nor play-by-play man Joe Tessitore will return this season.

Hopefully, Manning has a change of heart with that one. The entertainment world needs more Peyton.

ON SECOND THOUGHT

It appears Derrick Moncrief’s time with the Las Vegas Raiders didn’t last long. An all-star linebacker with the Saskatchewan Roughriders last season, Montcrief was signed to a reserve/future contract in January but now, according to Tashan Reed of The Athletic, has been waived by Jon Gruden’s team. The 26-year old became expendable when theRaiders signed free agent linebackers Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski and selected Clemson linebacker Tanner Muse in the third round of the draft … An “excellent source” of longtime NFL reporter Gary Myers says that Brady’s “deteriorating relationship” with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels played a part in the quarterback’s decision not to return to New England. That may very well be true, but at this point, do we even care anymore? … Oh wait, apparently, Tom cares. A lot. On Monday night, Brady wrote his response to the report on Instagram: “Please stop this nonsense! Please be more responsible with reporting.” He also tagged McDaniels in the response, using a heart emoji and adding, “19 years together and brothers for life.”

MILLION-DOLLAR BAUBLE?

Patriots owner Robert Kraft has donated his Super Bowl LI ring to benefit the All In Challenge, which has already raised over $38 million for COVID-19 relief from 715,000 individual donations and the involvement of more than 350 celebrities. In the video announcing his donation, Kraft said he wondered what he could do that would be special. “I’ve been thinking about it for weeks,” he said. “I finally thought about our experience in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons, when we were down 28-3 and had 99.6% (odds) to lose. And we came back, and we won. I thought about what is going on at this time, and wanted to give something of extreme value in support of our health care workers. So I thought it would be good to give this ring, our fifth Super Bowl win, because it showed how we came back.” Kraft listed the starting bid at $75,000. At last glance the ring attracted $650,000 with 10 days left in the auction.

EXTRA POINTS

Fifth overall pick Tua Tagovailoa has signed a rookie contact with the Dolphins, according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, who says the four-year deal is worth $30.28 million with a fifth-year option and that he’s also getting a bonus $19.6 million guaranteed … The Philadelphia Eagles are interested in free agent running back Carlos Hyde, reports Adam Caplan of SiriusXM NFL Radio. The six-year veteran is coming off his first 1,000-yard season with the Houston Texans … The Patriots have now signed nine of their 10 draft picks, with the latest being tight end Dalton Keene, chosen in the third round. Safety Kyle Dugger, a second-round choice, is on their only unsigned draft pick … Did you know that last year was the first time in NFL history that each of the top five passing yards leaders (Jameis Winston, Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan) failed to make the playoffs?

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